Army Rangers brave Poquito Bayou

Published: Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 01:23 PM.

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SHALIMAR — In the open water of Poquito Bayou on a sunny winter morning, the swimmers are barely visible.

All you can see is a dark head, maybe a shoulder, moving steadily through the water, trailed by an in-flatable red dive buoy.

Pushed and pulled by currents and tides, the Army Rangers aren’t sure if they’re swimming in a long straight line, or drifting away from their targets. And every meter counts in a timed swim that helps decide their future as combat divers.

The three swimmers, all instructors at Camp James Rudder, are halfway through a 10-day pre-scuba course to prepare them for the Combat Diver Qualification Course in Key West next month.

Their teachers are fellow instructors who are combat divers.

Swimming long distances in open water against the clock is just one component of the grueling course.

“You’ve gotta really want it,” said Master Sgt. Jim Fowler, the dive supervisor and Army Ranger in-structor who went through the training in 1999. “It’s pretty much the most PT (physical training) you’re ever going to do in six straight weeks.”

A grueling challenge
In addition to swimming more than 14,000 meters in the chilly open water of Poquito Bayou, the stu-dents run 30 miles, train for 30 hours in a pool and complete 12 hours of classroom instruction.

The pre-scuba course mimics as closely as possible the requirements of the Combat Diver Qualifica-tion Course. As rigorous as the pre-scuba class is, it doesn’t come close to the demands of the six-week course in Key West, Fowler said.

This is the second time through pre-scuba for all three Rangers.“Across the board, they just weren’t ready to go,” Fowler said of their first try. “If they’re physically and mentally exhausted by the end of our course, how could they last six weeks down there?”

The qualification course has a washout rate of 50 to 60 percent, Fowler said. But those who make it through join an elite group of Army combat divers.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these guys to become combat divers,” he said. “It opens up doors.”

Gutting it out
At the beginning of the week, air temperatures were in the 40s while the water in Poquito Bayou was a bone-chilling 57 degrees. The students started with a 1,000 meter swim, increasing the distance each day. By Friday, they were up to 3,000 meters.

To protect themselves from marine life and hypothermia, the Rangers wear short wet suits under their regular uniforms and don hoods, masks, fins and gloves. Over all that is a buoyancy vest they can inflate if they get in trouble.

Fowler said that in real-world situations, combat divers would be used to infiltrate areas by water. To that end, they wear their uniforms over their wetsuits so when they hit the land they can lose the wetsuits and still have clothes.

“We talk about being able to be the best by land, sea or air,” Fowler said. “This is an infiltration tech-nique. It’s a way to get in.

“It’s just a way to get to work,” he added.

A medic is on standby, and wool blankets and a heated truck await the swimmers at the end.

Still, it’s cold.

Sgt. Jason Dodd, one of the students, joked Thursday when asked how long it took him to warm up af-ter his swim two days earlier.

“I don’t know if we ever did,” he said.

One hour, 2,000 meters
On Thursday, the target distance was 2,000 meters, which meant entering the water near the Poquito Bayou boat ramp, swimming to a buoy 1,000 meters away and swimming back.

The men had one hour.

Sitting three across the back of a boat, they got their instructions from Fowler.

“How you feeling?” he asked the men.

“I feel strong,” Capt. Michael Culler replied.

Fowler talked about tides, currents and winds, trying to prepare them for factors they’re not experi-enced enough to predict.

“Tide’s coming in,” he said. “You’re going to have to fight it going out and kick it in the butt coming back, all right?”

At his order, the three flipped backward off the boat.

From the beginning, Culler struck out ahead. While Dodd charted a similar course behind him, the third Ranger, Staff Sgt. Ron Oxley, drifted off almost immediately.

Fowler steered the boat next to him several times and whistled sharply to get his attention.

“Check target,” he yelled. “Check target.”

A combat diver completes long surface swims with a powerful sidestroke motion and a finned kick powered from the hips.

The three dive school candidates are still working on their technique, which should include frequent checks of their position relative to the target.

Culler reached the turnaround point first, three minutes ahead of the time standard. The other two rounded the buoy with no time to spare.

“Hey,” Fowler yelled, pulling the boat up next to Oxley. “Fin hard. You’re at 30 minutes.”

One of the combat divers on the other support boat called out a second piece of advice.

“And you’re going the wrong way,” he yelled.

Striving for the standard
As the three students swam back toward the target, Fowler sent in two experienced combat divers to show how it should look.

They easily closed the gap between the boat and the swimmers, yelling encouragement and treading water next to them.

SHALIMAR — In the open water of Poquito Bayou on a sunny winter morning, the swimmers are barely visible.

All you can see is a dark head, maybe a shoulder, moving steadily through the water, trailed by an in-flatable red dive buoy.

Pushed and pulled by currents and tides, the Army Rangers aren’t sure if they’re swimming in a long straight line, or drifting away from their targets. And every meter counts in a timed swim that helps decide their future as combat divers.

The three swimmers, all instructors at Camp James Rudder, are halfway through a 10-day pre-scuba course to prepare them for the Combat Diver Qualification Course in Key West next month.

Their teachers are fellow instructors who are combat divers.

Swimming long distances in open water against the clock is just one component of the grueling course.

“You’ve gotta really want it,” said Master Sgt. Jim Fowler, the dive supervisor and Army Ranger in-structor who went through the training in 1999. “It’s pretty much the most PT (physical training) you’re ever going to do in six straight weeks.”

A grueling challenge
In addition to swimming more than 14,000 meters in the chilly open water of Poquito Bayou, the stu-dents run 30 miles, train for 30 hours in a pool and complete 12 hours of classroom instruction.

The pre-scuba course mimics as closely as possible the requirements of the Combat Diver Qualifica-tion Course. As rigorous as the pre-scuba class is, it doesn’t come close to the demands of the six-week course in Key West, Fowler said.

This is the second time through pre-scuba for all three Rangers.“Across the board, they just weren’t ready to go,” Fowler said of their first try. “If they’re physically and mentally exhausted by the end of our course, how could they last six weeks down there?”

The qualification course has a washout rate of 50 to 60 percent, Fowler said. But those who make it through join an elite group of Army combat divers.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these guys to become combat divers,” he said. “It opens up doors.”

Gutting it out
At the beginning of the week, air temperatures were in the 40s while the water in Poquito Bayou was a bone-chilling 57 degrees. The students started with a 1,000 meter swim, increasing the distance each day. By Friday, they were up to 3,000 meters.

To protect themselves from marine life and hypothermia, the Rangers wear short wet suits under their regular uniforms and don hoods, masks, fins and gloves. Over all that is a buoyancy vest they can inflate if they get in trouble.

Fowler said that in real-world situations, combat divers would be used to infiltrate areas by water. To that end, they wear their uniforms over their wetsuits so when they hit the land they can lose the wetsuits and still have clothes.

“We talk about being able to be the best by land, sea or air,” Fowler said. “This is an infiltration tech-nique. It’s a way to get in.

“It’s just a way to get to work,” he added.

A medic is on standby, and wool blankets and a heated truck await the swimmers at the end.

Still, it’s cold.

Sgt. Jason Dodd, one of the students, joked Thursday when asked how long it took him to warm up af-ter his swim two days earlier.

“I don’t know if we ever did,” he said.

One hour, 2,000 meters
On Thursday, the target distance was 2,000 meters, which meant entering the water near the Poquito Bayou boat ramp, swimming to a buoy 1,000 meters away and swimming back.

The men had one hour.

Sitting three across the back of a boat, they got their instructions from Fowler.

“How you feeling?” he asked the men.

“I feel strong,” Capt. Michael Culler replied.

Fowler talked about tides, currents and winds, trying to prepare them for factors they’re not experi-enced enough to predict.

“Tide’s coming in,” he said. “You’re going to have to fight it going out and kick it in the butt coming back, all right?”

At his order, the three flipped backward off the boat.

From the beginning, Culler struck out ahead. While Dodd charted a similar course behind him, the third Ranger, Staff Sgt. Ron Oxley, drifted off almost immediately.

Fowler steered the boat next to him several times and whistled sharply to get his attention.

“Check target,” he yelled. “Check target.”

A combat diver completes long surface swims with a powerful sidestroke motion and a finned kick powered from the hips.

The three dive school candidates are still working on their technique, which should include frequent checks of their position relative to the target.

Culler reached the turnaround point first, three minutes ahead of the time standard. The other two rounded the buoy with no time to spare.

“Hey,” Fowler yelled, pulling the boat up next to Oxley. “Fin hard. You’re at 30 minutes.”

One of the combat divers on the other support boat called out a second piece of advice.

“And you’re going the wrong way,” he yelled.

Striving for the standard
As the three students swam back toward the target, Fowler sent in two experienced combat divers to show how it should look.

They easily closed the gap between the boat and the swimmers, yelling encouragement and treading water next to them.